The old (Narcissa), the new (Harriet, Karen and Remus) and re-entering (the Tonkses) members of The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black gathered in the Gringott's lobby's at the apparition and portkey point. All of them touched the rope as Harriet said the required pass-phrase. Who would guess that Master Sharpblade was a fan of classic movies?
"Rosebud."
And then the metaphorical hook caught them in their navels. The world started to spin around.
"It wouldn't be so bad if you hadn't had the feeling that your stomach was traveling ahead of you." Karen mused to herself but suddenly the sensation ended and she swayed but stayed standing. Her supernatural balance allowed her to stand totally still and quickly caught Harriet who helplessly was falling on her ass. Thanks to Karen's lighting reflexes, she was caught and saved from the embarrassment of being the only one on the floor after the portkey ride.
Even a notorious klutz like Dora Tonks managed to stay upright.
Karen hoisted Harriet into a more upright position and looked briefly around. She mentally note to ask if there were horror movies filmed here, and then added that Batman's enemy Scarecrow aka Doctor Crane would probably piss himself with glee and excitement if he could call this house his own.
Her reverie was interrupted when up ahead, small curtains flew open on a spot and revealed a painting of an old… well the most apt term would be a hag. And she…or it? How do you call the portrait of somebody long dead anyway?... started screeching at them.
"SCUM! MUDBLOODS! GET OUT OF MY HOUSE YOU FILTH! NARCISSA, I AM DISSAPOINTED IN YOU! SHAME ON YOU! DEBASING AND SULLYING YOURSELF WITH MUDBLOODS! YOU ARE A DISGRACE TO THE HOUSE OF BLACK! BLOOD TRAITOR! GET OUT OF MY HOUSE, OR I WILL YOUHEX INTO OBLIVION! YOU…"
Remus quickly sent a strong silencing charm at the portrait and yanked the curtains closed around its alcove. All the while muttering about old painted hags under his breath.
Karen gave a questioning look at Harriet, who just shrugged and answered as she led the whole party to the sitting room. "That was Sirius' mother. Such a lovely lady, wouldn't you say?"
"That's one way on how to view it." Karen answered. She then remembered one detail about her wife's comments on her deceased godfather and chortled briefly. After receiving questioning looks, she elaborated.
"Well at least, he could proudly present himself as a real sonofabitch."
All of those who knew about Sirius animagus' form nearly chortled at the pun too.
Headmasters Office, Hogwarts, Later That Day
Headmaster Dumbledore was sitting in his office, quietly sipping a glass of firewhisky spiked liberally with a calming draught.
His day was a complete catastrophe. The only thing that was moderately good was that the goblins, although they tried, didn't have enough legal footing to retrieve all the money he had taken from the Potters' trust funds, as most of the Wizengamot and the Ministry still believed he was the legal guardian of Harriet Potter at the time and he had full rights to do so.
Plus his lackey at the Department of Records destroyed the unsealed copy of Potters' last will and cleared all records that it was ever present there, effectively making it gone. It was nearly impossible to refute him as the legal guardian of Harriet Potter.
Although there were no records of Sirius' conviction.
The loss of his family vaults didn't hit him as hard, as he hadn't used them in ages. In fact he had emptied it five facades ago and only left 100 galleons as a minimum deposit.
So all they did to him was to ban him from Gringotts, and from doing business with them. As he had relocated almost all of his cash and heirlooms into the Hogwarts' vaults long ago, he hadn't lost much to the goblins.
He knew that they would bring charges to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, and although there were some competent people like Madam Bones in there who wouldn't let something like this slide, fortunately for him, his man at the same department was in an administrative position. His man would bury his case in so much bureaucratic red tape that nobody would notice it. He already sent notices to his contact to alert him of the situation, complete with instructions on how to proceed with the matter.
He sighed. The reading brought him more questions than answers.
First thing was that Harriet somehow escaped the Dursleys and nobody noticed. Until the Gringotts' reading. That was disquieting.
Second, during her absence she married the blonde woman.
That alone threw a big monkey wrench into his plans. He wasn't against same sex relationships per se, as he himself had a liaison with Gellert Grindewald. Even the inheritance laws weren't totally against it as it was possible for two witches to produce a child, although this fact was nearly forgotten.
But if the word of Harriet's marriage get out, then it could severely undermine several long established and publicly accepted truths. One would be that only male wizards could be Heads of Ancient families. Although women headed the Bones and Longbottom Houses at present, both cases were viewed as special circumstances. Which was technically true as there were no surviving, direct male heirs of age to take the mantle.
Albus could predict this marriage bringing some unpleasant questions and could damage severely his vision of the greater good for the British Wizarding World.
The blonde woman was a mystery to him. He caught her name as Karen. Apart of that and the fact she was American due to her accent, he didn't know much more, and it bothered him. He had little to no contact or influence with the Magical Ministry of the USA, which was in itself extremely fractured. Having only a first name to go by, he would have a hard time finding her.
On top of his problems, he had to listen to Molly's screeching as she dragged Ronald in his office to see Madame Pomfrey, who in turn nearly threw them out of the infirmary. She was just leaving for her month-long holiday in Spain. Pomfrey was willing to help though. After a few spells and she was finished, he obliviated her and sent her on her way. Just in case.
The Burrow, Ottery St. Catchpole, Later That Day
Molly was fuming. She had to take Ronald to see Madame Pomfrey in Hogwarts. Her diagnosis nearly sent her into a pyroclastic explosion as that strange blonde tramp nearly squished his boy bits with that strike. How dare her to touch her Ronnekins! Manhandling him in such a way that he might not be able to function as a man ever! That tramp would suffer from her wrath!
And on top of that, the twins and Ginny disappeared after the reading of the will. She hadn't see them since.
After The Reading
Ginny basically dragged her twin brothers out of the room at the first available moment. She knew that there was more to the situation and, if she was reading it right, this might be the end of her family as she knew it.
She felt that there was a shit storm of huge proportions brewing in the air and she definitely didn't want to be in its way when it hits.
She dragged her brothers out of Gringotts and straight into the Leaky Cauldron. She quickly asked for a room.
Once she ushered the twins and herself in the room, she ordered them to cast as many privacy charms as they could. Once done she called an impromptu meeting into order.
"Fred, George, I know we're missing many information, but some conclusions could be made from what just happened." She took a deep breath and looked at their for-once-somber and serious faces. "Did you know anything about that marriage contract?"
They shook their heads.
"We know that mum and dad were in the Order with the Potters. Taking into account that Lily was a muggleborn and with her reputation, I highly doubt that she would ever agree with the marriage contract or would actually fill in one with Ronald as the groom for their daughter. Then considering what was said in the will, it just didn't add up! " Ginny sighed, "Sorry for the rant." She mumbled as she looked at her brothers.
Fred nodded sagely and added, "I hear you Gin. From what I know, Sirius hinted before that Dumbledore inexcusably betrayed him, if I understood that reference correctly." He looked at his brother for confirmation and George nodded. "Gin, I think it would be best for us to stay away from our parents and little brother for some time. I really didn't like how they were behaving." He seemed to think for a moment and then slowly continued.
"When I think about it, there were always signs that our family was a blood purist underneath. It was well hidden. Remember when Percy told mum that he wanted to date Aubrey in his fourth year? And all the brown-beating he got about her? She was muggleborn." His twin and Ginny nodded.
George continued that with, "We need to know more about that contract. All I could come up with isn't pretty. There might be even bigger things that weren't directly said at the reading…that may explain how our parents were able to afford Hogwarts for us, from one measly income that is our father's salary. I think we need to meet with Harriet and ask her for the truth. It's time when we would have to make a stand and choose what is right against what is easy. In the meantime, our flat has a spare room and was well warded against howlers, so do you want to live with us for now?" He finished with a slight question.
Ginny nodded and hugged her brothers for their thoughtfulness.
After a short while she let them from her embrace and said nearly in tears, "Thanks guys. Now we have a letter to write. Could one of you sneak into the Burrow and get my things?"
Back With The Blacks
As the Black family seated themselves in the Grimmauld sitting room, they began small talk as the tea was served by Dobby. Kreacher wasn't trusted with anything more than dusting. Even that was done by the belligerent house elf haphazardly.
As they talked, Harriet discovered many things about her newly acquired family members.
Andromeda revealed that she worked as a healer at the Outpatient Department of St. Mungo's.
Ted worked as a lawyer at Finchley & Finch—one of the biggest law firms in the wizarding world.
Narcissa was an aspiring potion mistress before she was wedded off to Lucius.
Harriet was reassured that even though members of the Kentuckian fried chicken club knew the secret of no. 12, the other wards were independent of it. Even they could be barred from the house even if they knew the secret, as the remaining wards on the property were impressive. It would all hold even under attack from the whole Order of the Phoenix and wouldn't let them in. So she quickly declared and barred all other except those already inside, from entering the house.
Narcissa's room in the house was all sorted too. Harriet told Remus that he's welcome at the house while they plan on their own. In fact, Harriet would be glad if Remus and Tonks decided to live their permanently. She wanted to make sure they're safe.
A tawny owl flew in one of the sitting room windows and Harriet saw a letter from Ginny and the twins. They were asking her about what was going on and swearing that they had no idea about that marriage contract. Suggesting a meeting at a place and time of her choice. It informed her too that Ginny took refuge at the twins' apartment.
All in all, it was a really busy day.
Meanwhile, Karen took the opportunity to check the audit of Harriet's estate and several things. She had a general idea on where to invest, but that wasn't on her agenda right now. As she was looking into her open notebook where she noted all things that had to do with the Dursleys, she hummed, satisfied of her plans for them. Evening the score as she called it, was good to go.
The Dursleys were going to be extremely sorry for what they did to her wife. Tomorrow, she would enact phase one of her plan.
As the evening came and all of them settled in their respective rooms, Harriet showed her appreciation to her wife for her actions at the earlier that day. Suffice it to say that Karen wasn't able to do any thinking that night.
The rest of the house learned two things.
One, Harriet was a twelve-syllable word.
Two, even the strongest silencing charm wasn't enough with the couple, as One shattered Two!